2021 Seattle Storm season

The 2021 Seattle Storm season is the franchise's 22nd season in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Due to ongoing renovations at the Climate Pledge Arena, the Storm played their home games at the Angel of the Winds Arena in Everett, Washington.

On May 30, 2021, head coach Dan Hughes announced his retirement; the Storm named associate head coach Noelle Quinn as his permanent replacement.

The Storm started the season with a finals rematch against the Las Vegas Aces. They split the series at home, 1–1. The rest of the opening month went smoother for the team, as that would be their only loss in May. Two of their wins game in overtime as well. The strong start continued into June, with the team winning their first two games of the month to extend their winning streak to six games. That streak was snapped on June 6, with a one point loss to Dallas. A five game winning streak followed the loss, but it was broken by the Storm losing their last two games of June to finish the month 7–3. The team won four of their five games in July, with their only loss coming away against Phoenix. They took a 16–5 record into the Olympic break.

The first game back from the Olympic break was the inaugural Commissioner's Cup Final, which the Storm won. The game was a dominating 79-57 victory over the Connecticut Sun. Breanna Stewart was named MVP of the game. However, she would not play in their next two games, which the Storm would both lose. The team turned their streak around with two wins, but they were followed by two losses, to give the Storm a 2–5 record in August. September proved to be a better month as the team won three of their four games to finish the season with a 21–11 record.

Their record earned them the fourth seed in the 2021 WNBA Playoffs, which gave them a bye into the Second Round. The Storm hosted the Phoenix Mercury and lost 80–85 in overtime; Stewart did not play in the game.

Transactions

WNBA draft

RoundPickPlayerNationalitySchool/Team/Country 1 11 Aaliyah Wilson Texas A&M 2 18 Kiana Williams Stanford 2 23 N'dea Jones Texas A&M 3 35 Natalie Kucowski Lafayette

Trades and roster changes DateDetails February 1, 2021 Re-Signed G Epiphanny Prince February 8, 2021 F Crystal Langhorne retired Signed F Candice Dupree February 10, 2021 Acquired the No. 1 pick in the 2021 WNBA draft and two picks in the 2022 WNBA draft from the New York Liberty in exchange for F Natasha Howard via sign-and-trade Acquired F Mikiah Herbert Harrigan from the Minnesota Lynx in exchange for a first-round pick in the 2022 WNBA draft Acquired F Katie Lou Samuelson and a second-round pick in the 2022 WNBA draft from the Dallas Wings in exchange for the No. 1 pick in the 2021 WNBA draft Acquired the rights to F Stephanie Talbot from the New York Liberty in exchange for G Sami Whitcomb via sign-and-trade February 11, 2021 Signed F Stephanie Talbot March 1, 2021 Re-Signed G Sue Bird March 15, 2021 F Morgan Tuck retired April 15, 2021 Acquired G Kennedy Burke from the Indiana Fever in exchange for the rights to F Aaliyah Wilson April 17, 2021 Signed G Kiana Williams May 28, 2021 Set F Mikiah Herbert Harrigan as inactive June 28, 2021 Waived G Kiana Williams July 1, 2021 Signed F Cierra Burdick to 7-day contract July 2, 2021 Waived F Candice Dupree July 5, 2021 Signed F N'dea Jones to 7-day contract July 23, 2021 Signed G Kiana Williams to 7-Day Contract August 18, 2021 Signed F Cierra Burdick to a Rest-Of-Season Contract August 23, 2021 Signed F Karlie Samuelson to a Rest-Of-Season Contract

Roster

Game log

Preseason

| 1 | May 8 | @ Phoenix | W 88–71 | Ezi Magbegor (17) | Ezi Magbegor (7) | Jordin Canada (6) | Phoenix Suns Arena1,985 | 1–0 |- | 2 | May 10 | Phoenix | W 103–93 | K. WilliamsDupree (12) | Stephanie Talbot (5) | Sue Bird (7) | Angel of the Winds Arena | 2–0

Regular season

| 1 | May 15 | Las Vegas | W 97–83 | Breanna Stewart (28) | Breanna Stewart (13) | Sue Bird (8) | Angel of the Winds Arena1,031 | 1–0 |- | 2 | May 18 | Las Vegas | L 80–96 | Breanna Stewart (26) | Ezi Magbegor (13) | Sue Bird (5) | Angel of the Winds Arena1,001 | 1–1 |- | 3 | May 20 | @ Minnesota | W 90–78 | Jewell Loyd (23) | Breanna Stewart (7) | Sue Bird (8) | Target Center1,934 | 2–1 |- | 4 | May 22 | @ Dallas | W 100–97 (OT) | Breanna Stewart (36) | Breanna Stewart (11) | Jewell Loyd (6) | College Park Center1,491 | 3–1 |- | 5 | May 25 | Connecticut | W 87–90 (OT) | Sue Bird (21) | Breanna Stewart (12) | Jewell Loyd (5) | Angel of the Winds Arena1,011 | 4–1 |- | 6 | May 28 | Minnesota | W 82–72 | Breanna Stewart (15) | Breanna Stewart (8) | BirdLoydPrince (5) | Angel of the Winds Arena1,332 | 5–1

Playoffs

Standings

Playoffs

Statistics

Regular season Player GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG Breanna Stewart 28 28 33.4 43.9 33.3 84.7 9.5 2.7 1.2 1.8 20.3 Jewell Loyd 31 31 31.0 42.0 37.6 88.9 4.0 3.8 1.5 0.2 17.9 Sue Bird 30 30 27.7 43.1 41.9 83.3 2.6 5.3 0.9 0.1 10.0 Mercedes Russell 30 28 24.7 61.7 0.0 76.6 6.1 1.6 0.9 0.4 7.3 Katie Lou Samuelson 27 24 21.0 45.6 35.1 73.1 3.5 1.7 0.7 0.3 7.0 Ezi Magbegor 30 3 15.2 50.9 55.6 84.6 3.8 0.8 0.6 0.9 6.7 Epiphanny Prince 29 2 14.3 43.9 50.0 89.7 1.6 1.7 0.7 0.2 5.8 Jordin Canada 29 3 18.7 38.9 21.4 84.1 2.3 3.0 0.7 0.1 5.8 Stephanie Talbot 30 9 17.9 48.3 41.5 75.0 2.9 1.6 0.5 0.4 5.7 Karlie Samuelson 3 0 10.7 30.0 12.5 100 0.3 0.7 0.0 0.0 3.0 Kennedy Burke 23 0 7.7 44.6 33.3 62.5 0.8 0.3 0.3 0.1 2.9 Cierra Burdick 7 0 5.0 25.0 0.0 50.0 1.7 0.4 0.3 0.3 0.4

Awards and honors Recipient Award Date awarded Ref. Breanna Stewart Western Conference Player of the Week May 24 Western Conference Player of the Month - May June 2 Jewell Loyd Western Conference Player of the Week June 7 Breanna Stewart June 14 June 21 Sue Bird WNBA All-Star Selection June 30 Jewell Loyd Breanna Stewart Breanna Stewart WNBA All-Defensive Second Team September 26 Jewell Loyd All-WNBA First Team October 15 Breanna Stewart

References

External links Official website of the Seattle Storm

2021 Seattle Storm season

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